


Happy Birthday to Us

by hardboiledbaby



Category: Alias Smith and Jones
Genre: Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-17
Updated: 2010-02-17
Packaged: 2017-10-07 08:21:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/63217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hardboiledbaby/pseuds/hardboiledbaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one told them what to expect after the "happily ever after."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happy Birthday to Us

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Equusentric](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Equusentric).



> Written to her prompt, "Heyes and Kid sharing a happy memory."
> 
> With thanks to Dawnebeth for the beta and encouragement. Any remaining hiccups are mine.

"Kid, you know what today is?"

Heyes perched himself on the corner of the table next to his partner. Kid looked up from his breakfast with a puzzled look.

"It's not your birthday, is it?"

"No."

Kid frowned. "Is it _my_ birthday, then?"

Annoyed, Heyes began, "No, don't be—" when he saw Kid's lips twitch. "Damn it, you _know_."

Now the twinkle revealed itself, jumping and dancing in Kid's eyes. "Of course. I ain't so old that I would forget _that_." He leaned back. "Twelve years," he said, with a kind of wonder.

Twelve years since they'd been granted amnesty. It had been a banner day, a new beginning for them both, and Heyes remembered how elated they'd been. Well, he remembered most of it—right up until the part where he got rip-roarin' drunk, anyway. After that, things were a little fuzzy. But it was their dream come true, their bright, shining moment, their storybook ending.

Except no one told them what to expect after the "happily ever after."

It's not that they hadn't talked about it, during the interminable time they were waiting on the Governor's pleasure. They'd talked about it a lot, actually. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that they'd fantasized about it, in the way they'd dreamed up stories as kids: stories of knights and dragons, of wizards and castles. Castles in the air.

The reality of it was, most of the years since then had been long, difficult ones. Yes, officially the slate had been wiped clean, the wanted posters destroyed, their crimes forgotten as if they had never been, in the eyes of the law. Officially. Unofficially, it wasn't that simple, of course. Nothing ever was.

They'd been free men, all right, free to do just about anything—including going broke or starving to death, with nary a living soul to give a damn either way. Oh, not that they were ever in straits quite _that_ dire, but it had been a struggle, and no mistake. They'd had to start from scratch, and learned the hard way that scratching a living as law-abiding citizens was a slow, monotonous, and painstaking process. If only honest labor was more about being honest and less about the labor, Kid often grumbled, and Heyes couldn't have agreed more.

It didn't help matters that their honesty had been constantly called into question, either. For all that they were no longer wanted men, their infamy had been the stuff of dime novels for so long that lawmen and regular folks alike eyed them with suspicion wherever they went. Sometimes, he'd wondered if they would ever be free of the taint of their former lives. More castles...

"Heyes." Kid's chiding voice broke through his reverie. Heyes looked into the blue eyes that knew him better than he knew himself, eyes that unerringly knew where his brooding thoughts had gone.

Heyes straightened up abruptly and walked over to the window. He looked out at the ranch they'd built together and tried to push the melancholy away. After all, the hard times were mostly behind them now.

An arm slipped around him, wrapping him in a firm, almost fierce embrace. Heyes automatically leaned into it, into the solid strength he relied on so much, into the love he knew would always be there. He'd never be free of this, and for that he was profoundly grateful. Heyes felt Kid's breath brush against the back of his neck and he closed his eyes, soaking in the warmth.

"It's been worth it, Heyes, all of it. Every single day, I swear."

Kid was right. Through it all, they had been together. And together, they still had a real future stretching out before them, unshadowed and unfettered, full of promise. Heyes let the thankfulness for that seep into him, finally banishing the bitter from the old memories, leaving only the sweet behind.

Sweet memories of the day they started fresh, their banner day, their new beginning. Heyes smiled, and knew the man at his back felt it as well.

"Hey, I reckon you were right the first time, Kid. Happy Birthday."


End file.
